Musical device



April 11, 1944. L. G. MACHLIN ETAL MUSICAL DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 29, 1942 INVENTORS [Ea/v G. MACHL //v :1 m5 5. /f/?/55FL0 4 rTcmA/Ey April 1944- L. G. MACHLIN EI'AL 2,346,444

MUSICAL DEVICE Filed Jan. 29, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS Leon 6. MAC/11. M 4 #15 B. llR/EGSI-HD Patented Apr. 11, 1944 Kriegsfeld, Jerse City, 'N. '.I., assignors to Metal Tone Corp., Jersey City, N. J. a corporation of New Jersey Application January 29, 1942, Serial No. 428,699

8 Claims.

This invention relates generally to musical devices. More particularly our invention relates to a novel and improved construction for the type of musical devices employing reeds and operated by a bellows.

One of the objects of our invention is to provide an improved musical device of the character described which shall be characterized by the simplicity of the construction and assembly of the parts thereof as compared to musical devices of a similar nature heretofore manufactured, and which shall, at the sametime, be practical and operate with a high degree of efiieiency.

Another object of our invention is to provide, in a musical device of the class described a novel and highly improved construction for a drum unit, as well as a highly improved design and arrangement Qr reed cooperating with said drum unit in combination with improved means for causing said drum to rotate ina givendirection only.

There are further objects of our invention which will become apparent in the following detailed description thereof. I w 7 I In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. l is an end elevational view, partly in section, of a musical device .eonstruoted and ara ge in c a c ith 931 in en n Fig. 2 is a front elevational view thereof with a portion of the outer wall thereof broken away to disclose the interior construction thereof;

Fig. 3 is .a cross-.sectional view takensubstantially on the .line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view takensubstantiallyonthe-lineA-d of Fig.1;

Figs.-5 and 6 are enlarged sectional views of a portion of the mechanisms of the device shown in Fig. 1, and illustrating the operation thereof;

Fig. 7 isa plan view showing the detail oithe reed ,unit disassembled from our musicaldevice;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view illustrating indetail another part, disassembled from our mus ical device; and.

Fi i a a men ie o a dol s body with the musical device of our invention mounted therein for, effective :use.

'Referring now in detail to the drawings we have shown amusical device l constructed and arranged in accordance with our-invention and whichmay be suitably-mounted-within a dolls bodyor similar toy to beeiiectively operated by alternately compressing and releasing the said dolls'body. It is understood however that my musical device may be adapted for use in any other desired manner.

The said device it! comprises generally a reed unit I l and a cooperating drum unit Illa (see Figs; 1 and 3 to 8). In accordance with our invention the reed H is preferably of one piece construction stamped out of suitable metallic material designed to provide the proper degree of rigidity to produce a tone when vibrated and at the same time sufficiently flexible to bend without break ing. The said reed unit, as shown in'detail in Fig. '7 comprises a longitudinal body portion l2 a d a p u a ity of reed l x endi g t a rse- 1y therefrom, the said reeds being spaced from each other a predetermined distance and of varying lengths to provide the desired variation in tone.

The reed unit ll is rigidly clamped between a pair of rigid channel members I15 and l6'with the side walls of the said channel members in symmetrically opposed relationship, as clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of thedrawingsi The said channels 15 and IS with the reed unit clamped therebetween are fixedly mounted on a cross member lid of ,a support I! by any suitable at taching means, such as for example, the screws l3 passing throu h the bottom walls of each of. the channel members l5 and 16 as well as through the body portion l2 of the unit ll andthreadedly received in the said cross member lla'.

Thesaid support l'l'may comprise, in addition to the crossarm Ila, a pair of side arm members l'lb, forming a substantially C-shaped support. Thesaid support 11 may be rigidly attachedto a flat wall member 20 by any suitable attaching means,'such as,.for example, the screws i9 threadedly passing through the cross arm 11a.

Mounted on the suppo rt l1 between the side arms 11b is a U s hap'ed'cradle member'ZIadapt d to rotatably support the drum ma and comprising the base portion 2Ia and the legs '2lb upstand- 111g therefrom, the said legs 2i b being fixed to the arms l'lb by suitable screw members 22.

In accordance with our invention the drum unit Ida comprises the .following novel construction designed to selectively andat predetermined subsequent intervals vibrate selected reeds M to produce a desired melody.

A plurality of'flat disc members 25 with aligned centralapertures are received on a shaft .26 sup ported at one end thereof in. one of the legs .21?) andsupported at the opposite end thereof by a stub shaft -z 'li'ziorming a part of ascr'ew member 21 threadedly passing through'the' other leg '2lb.

An opening 28 in the shaft is provided for the stub shaft 21a. The said discs 25 are maintained in predetermined laterally spaced relationship by annular spacer members interposed between adjacently disposed discs 25. The said spacer members 30 may be of any desired material such as wood, cardboard, metal or plastic, and may be substantially of the same diameter as that of the'discs 25. Each disc 25 is provided with one or more teeth or projections 3| extending outwardly from the periphery of the said discs 25. These projections 3| are designed to be disposed in the path of correspondingly disposed reeds |4 so that upon rotation of the drum Illa certain designated projections 3| will strike certain designated reeds in proper sequence to vibrate the latter and to cause a melody to be produced.

It is noted that the projection or projections 3| of each disc 25 must be positioned at a predetermined part of the periphery of the disc so that they will strike the cooperating reed I4 in proper sequence withrespect to the melody desired. It is also noted that once the said proper arrangement of projections 3| is obtained it is important that they be so maintained, otherwise the melody will be wrong. To this end we have provided the following construction designed to prevent relative axial rotation between the discs 25, and to cause them to rotate as a unit and in a given direction only.

Each disc 25 is provided with an angular or V -.shaped opening 33 therein, the said openings spaced from the central openings receiving the shaft 25, as clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings. 1 Passing through the said openings 33 and through the center openings 34 of the spacer members '30 is a substantially correspondingly angular or V-shaped member 35, shown in detail in Fig. '8 of the drawings.

' I To maintain the said rigid member 35 in position and at the same time to prevent the lateral separation of the discs 25 and spacer members 30, we provide integral tabs 36 extending from the ends of the said member which are bent over to overlie the outer'surface of the outermost discs or spacer members at opposite ends of the drum I'fia as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and in dotted lines in Figs. 5 and 6.

Itis thus seen from; the above described constructionthat when a suitable force is applied toanypart' of the drum it will move or rotate about'the axis of the shaft 25, as a unit, and that during such rotation projections 3| on the discs 25 will progressively vibrate reeds E4 in accord-' anoe with a prearranged sequence.

In accordance with our invention the following means are-employed for causing rotational movement of the drum.

Mounted on the shaft 26 to form a part of the unit 18a, is a gear member 4|] preferably stamped from a fiat relatively thin sheet of suitable material. v-shaped opening 33 the same as, and in alignment with the openings 33 in the discs 25. The tabs 35 passing through the opening 33 in the gear 40 and bent over and fastened in the manner hereinbefore described serve to cause the gear 43 to rotate as an integral unit with the drum [0. While in the drawings I have shown the gear 4|] as being disposed at the outermost end of the laminated drum structure it is understood that it may be positionedat any other suitable position. Cooperating with the gear 4fl is,a pair. 0i

The said member 4|] is provided with apawl members 4| and 42 adapted to be received between adjacent pairs of teeth 40a to cause rotation of said gear 4|]. The said pawl members 4| and 42 are carried by a lazy tongs device 43. The pawl 4| is pivotally mounted on a link member 44 by means of the pivot 45, and the pawl 42 is pivotally mounted on a link member 45 by means of the pivot 41,- thesaid links and 46 being in turn pivotally interconnected by the shaft 25. Pivotally connected to the link 44 by means of a pivot 48 is a link 49, and pivotally connected to the link 45 by means of a pivot is a link 5|, the said links 49 and 5| being pivotally interconnected by the pivot 52.

It is noted that the pivot 48 also pivotally connects the pawl member 4| to the link 49 and that the pivot 50 also connects the pawl member 42 to the link 5|. To permit limited movements 'of the pawl members so that they may effectively do their work and at the same time movement between the links 44, 49 and 45, 5|, the link 44 is provided with an enlarged opening 53 freely surrounding the pivot 48 and the link 45 is provided with an enlarged opening 54 freely surrounding the pivot 50.

The finger portions Ma and 42a of the pawls 4| and 42 respectively are so positioned that upon compression of the lazy tongs 43, to a position shown in Fig. 5, the finger 4|a will engage between adjacent teeth lfia and cause the rotation of the gear 40 as well as the entire drum unit in the direction of the arrow A, and when the lazy tongs is extended to the position shown in Fig. 6, the finger 42a will engage between a pair of teeth 40a to cause the gear 40 and drum Ida to rotate in the same direction as indicated by the arrow B.

It is thus seen that by alternately compressingand extending the lazy tongs 43 the drum lfla will be caused to rotate in one given direction, thus making it possible to play a relatively long tune and also making the musical device of our invention adapted for use in the body of a doll, as in Fig. 9.

For convenience in operating the lazy tongs, and to further facilitate the use of our invention in dolls or similar toys, we provide a bellows member comprising the wall 20 to which the support ll is attached and a second wall 5|, parallel to and ofsimilar contour, in this case, circular. The walls 20 and 5| are interconnected by suitable annular wall 55 made of the usual flexible material suitable for a bellows.

As hereinbefore described one end v of the lazy tongs is fixed to the shaft 26 which'in turn is supportedby the cradle member 2| fixed to the wall 20 for movementtherewith. The opposite end of the lazy tongs is fixed to the shaft 52 which in turn is fixedly attached to the wall 5| for movement therewith. Inside the bellows, adjacent the periphery of the walls 20 and 5| and interposed therebetween is a coil spring 57 normally tending to urge the lazy tongs to extended position.

It is thus evident from the above detailed description that when the bellows I0 is compressed against the action of the spring 51 the reeds l4 will be vibrated due to the rotation ofthe drum llla and that upon release of the-bellows from itscompressed position the spring 51 will automatically move the lazy tongs to extend position to cause the drum to continue to rotate in the same direction and thus'continue the melody, and so on, by compressing and releasing the bellows. until the song has beencompleted.

A slot 58 maybe providedin the wall 5| to permit freedom of movement of the links as and of the lazy tongs 43. Suitable openings may also be provided in the wall 26 to provide an air egress and intake for the bellows when compressed and released.

As noted in Fig. 1 of the drawings the arms llb supporting the cradle 21 therebetween may be provided with elongated open end slots Gil to facilitate the assembly thereof and at the same time to permit adjustment of the position of the projections 3! of the drum Ida with respect to the reeds M.

In accordance with our invention we have provided the following novel and relatively inexpensive method for making the discs 25. All the discs 25 are each originally stamped out of a fiat sheet of metallic material by the same die for stamping the gear 40. Thereafter, all but certain selected teeth are blanked off from the gears it) to form the individual discs 25, each remaining tooth of the gear becoming a projection 3| adapted to cooperate with a reed l4.

It is further noted that each of the finger portions 4m and 42a of the pawl members 4! and 22 respectively are arranged in a plane at right angles to the plane of the gear 40 so that a very thin gear may be employed, which saves material and space.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, we have herein described the principle and operation of our invention, together with the constructions which we now consider to represent the best embodiments thereof, but We desire to have it understood that the constructions shown are only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means. Also, while it is designed to use the various features and elements in the combination and relations described, some of these may be altered and others omitted without interfering with the more general results outlined, and the invention extends to such use.

Having described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

i. In a musical device of the class described the combination of a shaft, a laminated drum member having projections thereon, and rotatably mounted on said shaft, a reed unit comprising a plurality of reeds, means for fixedly supporting said reed unit so that said reeds will lie in the path of rotation of said projections, means for causing said drum to rotate, said last named means comprising a bellows, a spring normally tending to urge said bellows to expanded position, and a lazy tongs device, one end of said lazy tongs being fixed to a wall of said bellows and the other end of said lazy tongs being attached to said drum shaft and being relatively rotatable with respect to said drum.

2. In a musical device of the class described the combination according to claim 1 in which the means for causing said drum to rotate additionally comprises a gear member mounted for integral rotation with said drum and a pawl member fixed to said lazy tongs, for movement therewith, said pawl member having a finger portion adapted to be received between adjacent teeth of said gear member to rotate said drum.

In a musical device of the class described the combination according to claim 1 in which the means for causing said drum to rotate additionally comprises a gear member mounted for integral rotation with said drum and a pawl member fixed to said lazy tongs, said pawl member having a finger portion adapted to be received between adjacent teeth of said gear member to rotate said drum, said gear member and said pawl member being of relatively thin material and the plane of said finger portion of said pawl being at right angles to the plane of said gear member.

4. In a musical device wherein a plurality of fixedly mounted reeds are positioned in the path of projections on a rotatably mounted drum, that improvement which comprises constructing said drum of a plurality of discs having peripheral projections at predetermined portions thereof and means for preventing relative rotation between said discs and to cause said discs to rotate as a unit, said last named means comprising axially aligned apertures in said discs, said apertures being non-circular in contour and a rigid key member of substantially similar cross sectional contour as said apertures permanently received therein.

5. In a musical device wherein a plurality of fixedly mounted reeds are positioned in the path of projections on a rotatably mounted drum, that improvement which comprises constructing said drum of a plurality of discs having peripheral projections at predetermined portions thereof and means for preventing relative rotation between said discs and to cause said discs to rotate as a unit, said last named means comprising axially aligned apertures in said discs, said apertures being non-circular in contour and a rigid key member of substantially similar non-circular cross sectional contour received in said apertures, said key member having extending bendable tabs at opposite ends thereof, said tabs being bent to overlie the outer surfaces of the two end discs of said drum unit.

6. A musical device according to claim 5 in which said discs are additionally mounted on a shaft and in which means are provided for supporting said shaft.

'7. A musical device according to claim 5 in which a gear member is fixed to said drum for integral rotation therewith and in which manually manipulative means are provided, cooperating with said gear member, to cause continuous rotation of said drum in one direction only.

8. In a musical device of the class described the combination of a plurality of reed members, a rotatable drum, said drum comprising a plurality of laminae, said laminae bein provided with projections adapted to vibrate said reed members and means for maintaining said laminae in assembled condition, said last named means comprising axially aligned V-shaped apertures in said discs, and a rigid correspondingly shaped key member received in said apertures.

LEON G. MACHLIN. ELIAS B. KRIEGSFELD. 

